


Wise Men At Their End

by orphan_account



Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Book 9: The Dying of the Light, The Dying of the Light Spoilers, tdotl spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-02-28 06:09:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2721632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You said it looked good on me.”<br/>“I just said that to make you feel better. Spur of the moment thing.”<br/>“Oh, cheers.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A quick, self indulgent thing I wrote to satisfy myself.  
> I'm not much of a writer, I'm afraid.  
> Spoilers for The Dying of the Light. Book 9.

And Valkyrie watched in disbelief as Skulduggery hauled Ravel up off the floor and pushed him into the Accelerator.  
The Engineer made a noise that it probably shouldn’t have been possible for it to, in retrospect, something like a cross between a cough and a snort. “I’m not entirely sure that qualifies, Mr. Pleasant—”

Skulduggery turned around, dusting off his sleeves. “One soul, willingly given?”  
The Engineer hesitated.  “Well, yes—”  
“No repercussions?” Skulduggery pressed, and Valkyrie could almost hear the smirk in his voice.   
“I see.” The Engineer’s calculating gaze swept over Skulduggery one last time. “Very well. The soul is sufficient.”  
Skulduggery gave it a nod and stepped back. They watched as the Accelerator shut down, the lights dimming. The steady tell-tale hum vanished.  
  
It was then that he finally noticed Valkyrie standing there, the tears still fresh on her face. He stepped up to her tentatively. His head tilted.   
“A world without me would scarcely be worth living in, Valkyrie—”  
She lunged forward with a primal battle cry and punched him on the jaw. It came unexpected, and he lurched back, only to gather his wits and stand back upright again.  
Valkyrie glared, her breathing heavy.  
“I probably did deserve that, yes,” he nodded to himself.   
She punched him again, but this time he saw it coming and didn’t budge. Pain flashed through her fist.  
“That too,” he said, and nodded again.  
“You – you -” she struggled to form the words, her mind still numb. “You were going to _sacrifice_ yourself, you arrogant, dim-witted _cretin—_ ”  
He didn’t have eyebrows, but if he did, she imagined he’d be raising one. “Cretin?” he asked, amused.   
“I couldn’t think of anything else.”  
“Cretin, though?”  
“Shut up.”  
He held her by the crook of her arm and guided her out the door into the gilded Sanctuary corridor. She wrenched it back. “Are you sulking?” he asked.  
She scowled. “Yes.”   
“It’s annoying.”  
“Too bad.”  
He laughed. How was he so damn _cheerful_? “It was funny, though.”  
She didn’t reply. He continued.  
“You were crying and everything.”  
Valkyrie gritted her teeth. A muscle jumped in her jaw as they walked.  
“Aren’t you going to say something?” he prodded. She gave him a look.  
“…Ah.”  
She stared ahead. Skulduggery walked alongside her quietly for a while, then broke the silence again. “I want my hat back.”  
She replied then. “I’m keeping it.”  
“My head’s starting to miss that hat.”  
She suppressed a smile. “You said it looked good on me.”  
“I just said that to make you feel better. Spur of the moment thing.”  
“Oh, cheers.”  
  
A mage passed them, frowning slightly at the sight of Valkyrie, but was wise enough not to say anything when he spotted the skeleton at her side. Skulduggery waited until he’d passed. “Did you mean what you said at the end?”  
“Did I mean what?”  
“‘ _I love you!_ ’” he imitated her, teasing.  
“Spur of the moment thing,” she said, throwing his words back at him.  
“I wouldn’t blame you, you know,” he said.  
“Oh?”  
“I _am_ irresistible.”  
“Ah.”  
“The most charming skeleton you’ll ever meet.”  
“Right.”  
“Dashing.”  
“Uh…”  
“Sweep you right off your feet.”  
“Now you’re just pushing it,” she grumbled, but it had done what it was supposed to – she was smiling again.

 

  



	2. Tanith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How are you feeling?”  
> "I've had worse."  
> "That's not what I meant, Tanith."  
> "I..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did continue it!  
> Thank you for your wonderful comments on the first chapter. Didn't expect that at all!  
> I hope you like this one.  
> (Important notes at the end. Do read those!)

And Tanith Low winced as a doctor applied a cool salve onto the smarting cuts on her forehead. The doctor murmured an apology as he worked, pursing his lips. Tanith’s head felt light.  
She closed her eyes and sighed.

He was _dead._  


Something inside her had shattered when she’d realized what Val meant. Now it was numb and unfeeling – it left her feeling still as the world went on around her.  
She opened her eyes and found the doctor looking down at her. “Keep the bandages on, please,” he said, already turning around. “And keep the movement to a bare minimum or your wounds will open up again.”  
She muttered her thanks. He was already gone.  
She slid off the bed immediately, gritting her teeth as a fresh wave of pain passed through her. The bruises weren’t making things any easier.  
She spied a door a few yards away and limped towards it.  
  
 _Dead,_ Tanith _. He’s dead.  
  
_ Her lower lip trembled.  
She wanted to cry. Oh, she wanted to cry her eyes out. But this was a different kind of sadness – the kind of sadness that had you feeling like you’d cried for hours and just couldn’t any more, the kind that made you breathe heavy and hurt all over. The kind that scarred.  
  
“Tanith!”  
  
She turned around at the sound of her name and Valkyrie rushed into her, breathless, nearly taking them both down. Tanith steadied her, giving her a weak smile. “Whoa there.”  
  
Val looked her up and down, taking in her injuries. “How are you feeling?” she asked, the worry evident in her voice.  
“I’ve had worse.” Even Tanith heard the lie in her own voice.  
“That’s not what I meant, Tanith.”  
“I…”  
Valkyrie glanced at her for a second, then led her to the door, and they walked out into the corridor together. Tanith walked in silence for a while, her eyes stinging, her breath hollow, and she sensed the younger girl’s distress.  
 _  
Dead, and you didn’t even know about it._  
  
“How’re you holding up, Val?”  
  
“I need to… I need to tell you something.” The words came out in a rush, as if they’d been on the tip of her tongue all along. “I’m not – I mean, I – I’m going away for a while, Tanith.” She broke off and took a shuddering breath in.  
  
Tanith put a heavily bandaged arm around her as they walked. It wasn’t comfortable, but she could feel how much her friend was hurting. She quelled the rising pain in her own chest and blinked. “Oh. Why are you -”  
  
“Please don’t ask me that, I…” Valkyrie’s voice faded away as if she’d lost her train of thought, and then came back.  
  
“Have you told Skulduggery?” Tanith’s next question clearly threw Valkyrie off guard.  
  
“I… haven’t. You know what he’ll do, Tanith, you know he’ll try to stop me, you know – I’ll need you to talk to him when I’m gone, make him not come after me -”  
“Val,” Tanith cut in quietly. “I’ve done things. We all have. Whatever you’re doing this for, if you’re trying to _punish_ yourself for something, it’s not your -”  
  
“That’s what I’m scared he’ll try to make me believe, Tanith, but this… this is something I need to do. Maybe one day I’ll come back, but -”  
  
Tanith still had her arm around Valkyrie, and she tried to give her a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be here for you when that day comes.”  
  
“Miss Low?” A heckled-looking mage stood before them, clutching a package wrapped in crinkly brown paper. “Grand Mage Sorrows sent me to give you this.” He held it out and Tanith took it from him, scanning it.  
 _Tanith,_ said the miniscule label affixed to the front. _From Ghastly.  
_ The mage hurried away. Tanith stared down at the package in her arms, while Valkyrie stared after the mage, bemused. She looked down at what Tanith held, noticed the label and gasped.  
 _  
_Everything stung. Tanith couldn’t breathe as she pulled away the string binding the paper together, almost frantic, pulling away the last crinkling layer—  
  
 _Clothes._

Val was saying something, but her voice seemed far away, like Tanith was hearing her through water. “Oh, _Tanith_ …” She didn’t hear the rest, her eyes rooted to what she held.

 _Ghastly had made her clothes before he died._  
  
She bowed her head as the tears began to fall. She clutched the package to her chest, and through the blurred sheen of tears, she allowed herself a small smile.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realized I wanted to do a separate little tribute to all my favourite characters.  
> Updates will probably have less of a gap between them as I'm on Winter break.  
> As always, please leave comments telling me what you think! They make my day.  
> (Kudos if you think this deserves it. *winks*)

**Author's Note:**

> I may continue this.


End file.
